Together
by Aficaria
Summary: Whether if it's forever or temporary, everything has it's time. For us, it was too short but you'll stay in my heart for eternity.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

That morning I woke up crying as usual. To be honest, I had forgotten the reason of my tears—whether if I was sad or not; my feelings are disappeared along with the tears. I turned to the side of the window, staring at different shapes of trees passing by. It wasn't snowing, but the road was frozen white. Half of the cars we saw had their chains on.

I turned my attention to the front; I noticed that my father was driving while my brother sat beside him. My mother and I sat at the back. The two in front were conversing about the weather. Would we make it to the airport in time? Would the plane take off on schedule?

My mother and I hardly said anything at all. I breathed out an exhausted sigh and turned back my attention to the passing landscape. Rays of sunlight was hardly seen, yet little specks of it cut through the ever gray clouds. My hands tighten around her necklace, the ever last piece of her with me.

The snow gets thinner as we neared the airport. My father stopped the car and opened the trunk at the back. Ventus turns to me and smiled sadly, before hopping off the car. I didn't budge; I had no feelings to do so. I sighed before stuffing the trinket inside my pockets and opening the door.

" Ventus, make sure to take care of your little brother- " Mom sighed.

"You don't have to say that." I glared at her, tossing my backpack over my shoulders. Ventus simply laughed before shutting the trunk and making his way towards the entrance.

"It's alright mom, Roxas can take care of himself—I trust him."

"Even if you say that.."

"I'll be fine." I exclaimed before walking in to the airport, ignoring anymore further comments from my mother. My mom had been always the worry-wart. But even when she is one, her looks does not say so. Her eyes glimmered a normal hazel tone, yet her hair was dark as night—whereas my father looks like both me and my brother. Despite their differences in looks, my father was much calmer than my mother.

We made our way into the airport, checking our schedule. To pass the time, Ventus and I went for a short walk. The airport was busy as ever, everyone only minded their own business. Looking out of the window, the snow on the tracks was getting cleared off by the workers.

"Thanks." I whispered out loud.

Ventus looked at me and smiled sadly, before stuffing both his hands in his pockets. He stared at my hand, fiddling for her locket.

"It's alright to be honest to yourself, Rox."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That little thing you have in your pocket, you're gonna have to get rid of it soon. Or you'll never feel better."

I stared at him for a second before letting my hands out of my right-jeans pocket. He was right. I had to get rid of it, or else I would never move on—move on from her. I sighed sadly, turning away and continuing our adventure through the busy transport-hub.

How long has it been since she was gone. Four months at most judging from the calendars in my room. She was extinct from my life, yet I still remember her. Sometimes I wondered if she was just an illusion, a dream—but she wasn't. Her flaxen blonde hair, her cyan-blue eyes—her radiant smile.

"Namine, she was a kindred spirit wasn't she."

"You said was."

Ventus looked at me and shook his head, "Roxas, she was a great person. And I believe that."

After the plane took off, I fell asleep and had a dream. It was about Namine when she was still up and healthy, and in the dream she was wearing her usual white sundress—smiling at me. She called out to me—"Roxas!" Her voice still lingered in my ears like a melody. I wished that the dream was real, and this reality is just a dream.

But that wasn't the case, And that was why, whenever I wake up, I'd be crying. It wasn't because I was sad. It was like, when you return from a happy dream to a sad reality; there's a chasm you have to step across. The thing is, you can't exactly cross it without shedding tears—even when you've done it multiple times before.

X

The place we'd left was covered in snow, but the place we landed was a town with everlasting sun. It was as if the god of summer had decided that this was the place they wanted to reside in, Destiny's Island. My heart thumped loudly, remembering how this was the place that I had met Namine.

"It's better than Twilight Town." Ventus said.

To me, the place was cursed. Nothing about it had changed, except for the absence of her. Destiny's Island had lost a beauty. That was all. That was all that happened.

"Yeah, sure."

Ventus smiled sadly at me before patting me on the back, giving me as much support as he could. And I was grateful for that, without him here—I would've just took a knife and stabbed myself immediately to join Namine. But he, like many other people had reminded me the reason—the promises I had with her. And one of them was to stay alive and move on.

"Lighten up lil'brother. We're here aren't we, like we always do each year."

"It's not going to be the same. You know it."

Ventus sighed and raised his hand for a taxi. "Sometimes I wish that we could just turn back time, and maybe we would've warned her about her sickness too. But life is just like that, we just have to move along."

"I wish life would give us more mercy." I laughed sadly.

"I wish that too lil'brother."

We were going to spend the night at a hotel and take a morning train to the main island the next day. There was hardly any time difference, so the time when we left Twilight Town had just continued its flow. After dinner, I sprawled out on my hotel bunker and stared up at the ceiling. Shutting my eyes slowly, reminding myself that Namine is not going to be at the station tomorrow—Namine isn't here.

Our group of friends had come from the same elementary school before me and Ventus had to shift away for our parent's sake. When I'd come to Destiny's Island few years ago, Namine wasn't really the brightest person ever. She was always constantly finding a way to get on my nerves. But after some time, we grew matured and we somehow managed to tolerate each other—eventually we became each other's partner.

We would always fly to Destiny's Island each winter, sometimes even during summer to meet with the gang. That was the only nonstop route, and for this odd reason, this town, this island had become an importance in both me and Ventus' life. I'd thought that it was a beautiful place and that was the reason why I had always enjoyed it here—but it was only because she was here that I had always tried my best to visit. But now, no matter what I looked at, I felt nothing. What was I supposed to do here? What was I supposed to look at?

That's what it meant for Namine to be gone, what it means to lose her forever. I had nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to touch. Whenever I do see her, is in my dreams—and it was torment to come back to reality. No matter where in the world I went, it would be the same. Nothing would move me; nothing could make me feel anything anymore.

Two days without her was torture. Four months without her, I felt numb. Everything that had happened in the time where she was still here—one season changes to the next—I had felt different. It was as if the Roxas from years ago was just a myth. I am now in a place where one death had wiped out every emotion from my body.

"Good night Roxas."

"Night Ven."

That was where I was. I couldn't see anything colorful, everything is grey. If I could pay anything to get anything back, I would've sacrificed my life to see her one more time. But was that really what I had wished for?

Where are you now? Where am I?

* * *

 _ **Hey guys!**_

 ** _It's finally out! First chapter of the Namixas story, Together.  
This is probably just a prologue, however since I've been planning on Together for a long time now..  
_** ** _I might be able to upload Together more often!_**

 ** _Hope that you'll all be more patient with me.._**

 ** _And as always, Review for me!_**

 ** _\- Fi_**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

I awoke to the sound of water running.

Pushing off the dusty bed sheet, I got out from bed with a groan. My eyes were swollen from yesterday night and I could feel dried tears on my cheeks. The thing was, I am never a morning person—neither was Ventus. It's a bit surprising to find out he woke up earlier than me, but knowing him; it was because he was the older twin.

It was supposed to be another day, but it isn't going to be just another day. It's the day where I would have to face the truth, the truth that she is not here anymore. The thing is, I did not want to admit that she's gone. I'm scared that, if I were to say it out loud—she will truly disappear.

 _Despite the fact that I'm not here anymore?_

Yes, despite the fact that I could not see you anymore. What's done is done, and what's the truth might as well be a bright white lie. I know what people said, that I should move on and face the facts. But I couldn't, I can't abandon her. I can't break Namine's promise—I won't leave her alone; not like this.

I turned to the toilet and saw Ventus brushing his teeth; he was already well dressed and ready to head out to the station. I grumbled a good morning to him and scooted him aside, rinsing my face before staring at the faded mirror.

"Rough night, huh?"

I glared at him, wondering if he actually noticed he was asking a stupid question. Ventus simply sighed out loud before walking out of the door. Wasn't it clear enough for him to not only have his bed right next to mine, he would've known I had a terrible night. But it wasn't like it's Ventus fault fully. I too was guilty as charged. But it didn't matter, I had no mood to apologize; neither do he.

"You ready to go?" I shouted.

"Waiting on you lil'brother."

I nodded, forgetting that he could not see me through the walls. I blushed embarrassedly and immediately walked out of the door and put on my jacket hanging on the chair. I didn't bother to dress well, it didn't really matter anyways. Namine would not be there to see me, why should I even try hard to impress anyone?

"Let's go."

* * *

The first time Namine and I were in the same class together was back when we were freshmen in high school. Until then, I never really talked to her—nor did I actually even pay any attention to her. What I did know about that blonde girl was that she was Kairi's cousin—whereas Kairi is my cousin, Sora's best friend at that time. Maybe it was destiny, or maybe it was by chance; but we were placed into the same classroom, out of nine, and by chance our teacher appointed us as class representatives.

That was how we started communicating with each other. Namine started out to be a shy girl who only likes to pay attention to her sketch book. She had never really voiced out her opinions, nor did she even try hard to take the responsibilities she was given. Because of that, I had started to grow annoyed at her customs and even tackled the issue by facing her head on.

 _And it's one of the few mistakes you've done, yet you don't regret it._

It true, it was a bad mistake. I had miscalculated my plans, what I did not expect was her two-faced personality. She was not what I thought she was. Apparently, her height had also influenced her attitude. She was short tempered, and apparently because I had aggravated her—she had made me her mortal enemy. Yet, how could I regret it?

It was because of that simple mistake that we started a relationship. Despite it being a really rough one—and seemingly a painful one too. Yet, because of that small mistake; I've grown to see Namine as a beautiful and a powerful tyra—warrior.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, get your ass straight and do something! I'm done doing all the chores and carrying your god damn burden!"

Namine tightened her jaw and placed her sketch book nicely at her side, "Roxas, that's your name right?"

"Yes, and what about it?" I glared at her cerulean eyes.

"I'll be sure to remember that."

x-x-x-x

The thing about Namine was that, she had held grudges most of the time. After my encounter with her, apparently she had actually started taking her duties seriously. I felt proud for that at first, until we were given the first task together as class representatives.

It was a trip to the hospital to visit a classmate named Riku. Apparently, he had broken his leg on the first day of club activities as a member of the Struggle Team. On the way there, we decided to get him cookies and flowers with the little bit of money we'd collected from our classmates.

Riku was lying on his back in bed, with his leg in a huge plaster cast. I hardly knew anything about him, so I kept quiet most of the time. Namine seemed to know him from Sora as Riku was one of his good buds—she was the one who was doing the talking. I stared out the fifth-floor window at the town. Just right at the outskirts of town, it's the island's most popular beach. Beyond that, I could see the small little island where Ventus and I would always go and play.

"Hey, Hikari." Riku suddenly turned towards me. I hadn't realize that Namine had went out of the room. Had I been staring out of space for so long?

"Earth to Hikari, you there?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, yes?"

Riku laughed out loud before giving me a genuine smile. "You really are the exact thing as Sora described. Cool and quiet, unlike your brother."

I raised a brow, "Sora's been talking about me huh?"

"Yeah, like how you are actually from Twilight Town." He chuckled, "Must be hard to have a sudden change of scenery, after living in the city for so long."

"Right, well. Twilight Town isn't really a city compared to Hollow Bastion." I smiled, "Though, it's not like Destiny's Islands is hard to adapt—I used to live here a few years back."

"You sound a lot like a nomad, my friend." Riku laughed before looking out at the window, presumably at the small island where I had been staring.

"Not really, my parents are just hard working people."

Namine suddenly came in with a new vase she had gotten from a nurse. She went on to put the flowers we'd bought into the vase, setting it on the coffee table beside Riku's bed. She muttered something under her breath about boys talk but simply just excused herself and left earlier.

"Geez, I have no idea what's with her." I grumbled before taking out the box of cookies and passing it to Riku.

Riku gladly accepted the cookies and dug into it immediately, "Don't mind Nam, she's just like that."

Maybe I was too angry to notice, but right at that moment. If I had noticed it earlier, I would've sworn that Riku had a sad look in his eyes. But I did not, and if I did—things would've been different and I would've been much more noticeable of my surroundings in the following years. But I didn't.

"Yeah, well. I hope she changes. I don't think I want to work with that attitude for a whole year." I grumbled before standing up and dusting myself, walking over to grab my bag. "Anyways, I guess I'll head out too. It's getting late."

"Hey, come back soon." Riku called out to me. "It gets a little boring here in the hospital. I kind of miss my bat already."

"Don't worry. All the kids from class are gonna start taking turns coming by to fill you in on what you're missing." I laughed, walking towards the door. "I believe my cousin would be coming over tomorrow."

"That I could do without."

We both laughed at the statement before telling our goodbyes.

x-x-x-x

On the way out of the hospital, I noticed Namine was sitting by the steps of the entrance. Her mind seemed to be disturbed and she was not as intimidating as she usually is. It was the first time that I had felt like she was a different person—more like a female.

I slowly made my way to her and took a seat beside her. Her flaxen blonde hair was swaying along with the sea breeze, and the smell of her shampoo lingered on. I asked if she wanted to take a raft to the secret island with me. It was too late to make it back in time for club activities at school, and too early to go straight home. She did not hesitate, she immediately said all right.

Maybe it was that time that I started to have feelings for her. Or maybe I had feelings for her all along. But it did not seem very obvious at first, but I could feel my heart pump when her eyes seemed to be distant. It was like despite that she was here with me, she was still far away. I did not know that a side like this exists in her. Or maybe I had judged her too much easily in the past that I did not give her a chance.

"You're an asshole, aren't you, Roxas?" Namine suddenly asked.

Taken aback by her question, I immediately dropped all my thoughts about her being elegant. "Gee, how did you know?"

"I just know. I'm good at these things." She laughed suddenly, her eyes scrunched together whereas her hair continues to dance along with the wind.

"And what about you, Strife?" I questioned back, putting in more strength as I paddled the boat.

"I think we're both assholes."

"Well, isn't that great for you to notice."

"You're just being mean." She pouted—how adorable she looked.

"Hmm… at least I don't try to hide it with a mask."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I shook my head and continued to paddle the boat to the island, not even going to bother arguing with her. I know that if I do, she would not give up. I guess sometimes girls also have their own ferocious side. What happened to the 90s version of eloquent females?

"Low tide."

I turned my attention back to her, raising a brow.

"It's low tide." She repeats.

"I know what a low tide is." I stated, half hoping she would just stop right there—deep down feeling regret that I had invited her along this trip.

"Yes but, I think low tide is like a way that the moon is telling us—that paving a path to a destined area is actually easier than it looks."

"I have no idea what're you trying to state, Strife."

She turned back to me with a more serious look, like as if I had hit a nerve again. "See it this way, Hikari—we always give an excuse that life is hard and we just stop trying to achieve what we want." She points at me, "Yet, the moon simply just use some sort of gravity pull to get rid of like 30% of the ocean's water just like that."

"It just means it's a nature thing, isn't it?"

"No, it means that. Even something as vast as an ocean can be get rid of in just a flick of your fingers. We, as humans, just make things difficult and because of that—we stop trying." She says.

I raised a brow, "What made you so interested in philosophy suddenly?"

She turned to me. My eyes grew wide in shock to realize that her eyes were red and puffy, she had been crying. But when? I was with her the entire time that I—it was when I was still with Riku.

"Namine?"

"Let's just forget what I just said."

I pursed my lips together before paddling faster, "We're almost there."

* * *

 ** _Hey guys!_**

 ** _I know it's been a few weeks, but I'm sad to say that I'll be on hiatus for a month during November._**

 ** _I'll be having my finals and I believe that I need to work extra harder to achieve my goals to study abroad!_**

 ** _Please be a little more patient with me, I promise I'll update soon!_**

 ** _Next update with be for Ballad. I do hope I could finish Ballad before December ends. :)_**

 ** _As always, Comment and Review!_**


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